Heard in the Blogosphere
Joke ’ s on Us
This April Fool ’ s Day , we wanted to trick our readers into thinking we were experimenting with new names for groups of hematologists , but we ended up with some great suggestions . Thanks to all of our creative readers for the ideas !
Andrew Brunner , MD
@ andrewbrunner
4 MDS specialists = a sideroblast
Sandy Wong , MD
@ SandyWong02111
4 myeloma docs = a plasmacytoma
Shweta Bansal , MD
@ drshweta _ pedonc
5 pediatric oncologists = mediastinal mass ( close to heart )
The Conversation Placebo
“ It ’ s clear that how doctors and nurses communicate their treatment can have profound effects on how patients experience the results of that treatment . Yet the conversation between doctors and patients is one of the least valued aspects of medical care . … As health care faces its latest overhaul , it ’ s crucial for the medical profession , as well as insurance companies and decision makers in government , to recognize the power of the doctor-patient conversation . It ’ s the most valuable diagnostic tool we have and can be remarkably effective as a treatment tool as well .”
— Danielle Ofri , MD , on the power of patient-doctor conversation , in The New York Times
Miguel Perales , MD
@ DrMiguelPerales
Where # stremcelltransplant # hematologists hang out : a niche
Samuel Blackman , MD
@ drsam
Is “ a clot ” of hematologists too gross ?
Navneet Majhail , MD
@ BldCancerDoc
1 bone marrow transplant doc = a cure # bmtsm
Why We Need to Redefine the “ Cure ” for Cancer
“ The biggest lesson from the war on cancer is that we are incredibly far from a cure . … It remains difficult , if not impossible , to cure cancers – if we define cure as treatment . Prevention may instead provide the solution we have long been seeking . … Unfortunately , there are no active moonshot grants funding prevention or early detection efforts . And the Blue Ribbon Panel Report , which describes the 10 research priorities for the moonshot , barely mentions prevention or early cancer detection . If this trend continues , funding for cancer prevention and control will be crowded out within the shrinking pie of federal research dollars .”
— Ravi Parikh , MD , on the changing definition of a cancer cure , in Vox
Is CRISPR Appalling or Exciting ?
Andrew Su , MD
@ andrewsu
Be skeptical of your results when they are : - better than expected - worse than expected - exactly as expected
“ CRISPR is a powerful technology , but when it comes to altering humans , it ’ s nowhere near as powerful as the sensationalists like to imply . What CRISPR is good at is making small changes in populations of cells . The most promising type of applications for human health are correcting known disease-causing mutations in patient-derived stem cells . Applications as sophisticated as designer babies or humans bred to be warriors are going to require so much more editing than this that they ’ re nothing more than scary thought experiments .”
— Brian Farley , PhD , on the promise and the threats of CRISPR engineering , in Forbes
Rob Dean , MD
@ drdean
Paged for an admission # whenonservice ? Odds that you ’ re the right service vary inversely with the probability you were asleep .
Art Kellermann , MD
@ ArtKellermannMD
If docs had the courage to stop doing things pts don ’ t need , the U . S . would have enough money & capacity to care for those who do .
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56 ASH Clinical News May 2017